Ok, maybe I'm not cursed but still a little new with the whole renting process as this is my second time renting a place for vacation. I had a small problem the first time which could be why I'm a little nervous.

I am going to Paris this May and decided to go with an apartment instead of staying in a hotel. In early February, I contacted the owner to one of the places I was interested in to inquire about availability and price. I received a very prompt reply the next morning with my answers. After thinking it over for a couple of days, I proceeded with the 200 euro down payment.

The very next day, I received the rental agreement in my email. I happened to be away on business so I was not able to read and respond right away. As soon as I was able, I sent a quick email because I had a few questions and didn't want there to be any misunderstandings. Well, after 2 emails and close to 4 weeks, I have not heard back from the owner. I think he was away for a while because the rental website states the last day his site was updated. I noticed he finally updated again last Monday but my dates are still available, so I sent my questions again (making it the 2nd email). As of today, no reply.

I am getting a bit antsy because he was so quick to respond before. I understand I took some time to email him my questions but it's been almost a month and my dates are not blocked out. I am to pay the rest of the money in cash on arrival but still 200 euro is a lot of money. I'm also worried I won't have a place to stay once I get there. I just don't know what to do next.

Can you let us know which apartment it is. Others may have dealt with the landlord before

The apartment is located at 11 Avenue de la Grande Armee. The owner's name is Francois.

Or why I prefer to rent via an agency. Yes, you pay a little more, but you can usually charge it to a credit card (so it's disputable). Plus the agency to some degree guarantees the place is as advertised. And if something unexpected happens, like the place burns down a week before your arrival, the agency will probably have alternatives.

Is this an agency or what? It isn't clear how you found this place, as if it's an agency maybe someone has experience and will have comments.

It seems you have an agreement, if you paid the deposit and have a contract. Who knows, could be an owner who loses interest once he has the money. A lot of private owners who rent are not exactly business professionals or good with customer service.

I can't imagine why anyone would rent a place and give them money without having an agreement first, which appears to be what you did. It sounds like you are saying there is some way you can see that your dates are not blocked on some website, is that right -- I would be really concerned about that, also, how did you make the payment? Are you sure he even got the money? Because if not, he maybe has totally forgotten about you and moved on.

I saw the apartment on both Homelidays.com and vbro.com. I contacted the owner through Homelidays.

I didn't get the rental agreement until I gave the deposit through paypal. I used my credit card because of a prior rental problem on another trip.

The agreement gives the basic information such as the address, brief description of the property, my contact info arrival and departure dates and time and a break down of what is due on arrival. I'm suppose to sign it when I arrive.

I had a few questions such as "cleaning has to be done by the renter". While I do intend to clean up after myself, what do I do about the sheets and towels? A dryer is not listed and I'll need to vacate by 9am.

I also checked to see if my dates were added on the website but they aren't. So, I added that to my list of questions. I've also sent my questions twice in case he didn't get the first one. Email problems do happen so I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. At this point, I'm getting nervous.